Where's the beerfest brewery representative?

Question I have is should a brewery at a beerfest have one of their employees at their booth? I was at the Asbury Park BF recently where at least two breweries had people pouring samples that seemed to know nothing about the breweries beers. One guy just said I don't work for the brewery but was just there to pour. A woman at another booth asked if I wanted a 4% or 6% sample. I guess she was talking about the ABV? I'm sure it's hard to send a rep to every beer event but at least hire someone who knows a little about beer. Appreciate your thoughts.

I absolutely think that breweries should be represented by brewery employees (especially the brewers themselves) and not by volunteers. I always ask questions about specific beers that they are pouring and even some that they are not pouring. I hate when there is someone who knows nothing about beer behind the tap. This is the one of the reasons that the Firestone Walker Invitational was such a GREAT beer festival. Take note brewfest planners and breweries, bring your brewers!

I have volunteer poured at a festival a couple of times. Both times I was assigned to small breweries that only sent one person. One was represented by the brewer and one by one of the principals of the brewery. Both of them spent the first part of my 2 hour shift with me to educate me on what they had brought and then were off to sample and/or eat for the rest of my shift returning when my shift was over. The brewer was kind enough to let me borrow a brewery pass to get into the brewers tent to sample what was being shared with other brewers/breweries

I absolutely think that breweries should be represented by brewery employees (especially the brewers themselves) and not by volunteers. I always ask questions about specific beers that they are pouring and even some that they are not pouring. I hate when there is someone who knows nothing about beer behind the tap. This is the one of the reasons that the Firestone Walker Invitational was such a GREAT beer festival. Take note brewfest planners and breweries, bring your brewers!

IMO, the ideal is that volunteers pour the beer but the representatives are there to answer questions. This keeps the lines moving and gives attendees ample chance to talk to the brewery without making everybody behind them wait.

To not have a rep there seems like a poor business decision on the part of the brewery. On a semi-related note, I don't like when a brewery has 5 or 6 beers at a fest that have some name that doesn't indicate what they are. Then you have to ask for a description of each, the lines move slow, etc. I appreciate when there is clear signage indicating the name, the style, and a description so I can make my decision while in line

I absolutely think that breweries should be represented by brewery employees (especially the brewers themselves) and not by volunteers. I always ask questions about specific beers that they are pouring and even some that they are not pouring. I hate when there is someone who knows nothing about beer behind the tap. This is the one of the reasons that the Firestone Walker Invitational was such a GREAT beer festival. Take note brewfest planners and breweries, bring your brewers!

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If the brewers spent all of their time working brewfests, who would brew the beer?

if a brewer was sent to every fest a brewery attends (there are a lot of fests out there...) that is a shift that person is not on site performing the primary function they are employed for. and then are they going to be paid their brewer pay rate to stand around and pour beer and schmooze the crowd? if not, good luck getting anyone to happily go work a fest.

but i agree about reps. one should absolutely be there. i do like getting to run in to brewers at fests, but it is not always possible to have them there.

Sometimes breweries arent even aware their beer is being poured at beer fests. Not much they can do about that. Its unrealistic to expect someone from the brewery to be there every time their beer is being poured.

Sometimes breweries arent even aware their beer is being poured at beer fests. Not much they can do about that. Its unrealistic to expect someone from the brewery to be there every time their beer is being poured.

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^This. In an ideal world, all brewers would have the time to not only brew amazing beer, but also spend time pouring it at festivals and speaking with the drinkers of their beer. Unfortunately, many beer fests today are put on by distributors as opposed to individual groups that reach out specifically to each brewery. These distributor-originated fests often have volunteers that pour half the time, so they can get slobbery drunk the remainder.

Pretty obvious from the line-up at the Asbury Park Beer Fest website's BREWS page that all those brands are distributed locally by Shore Point, and the event itself is organized by a hard rock radio station, I wouldn't have expected much brewery participation or even much "beer knowledge" to begin with.

I agree with OP. In fact, I think breweries should hire an entire staff of folks to attend all the events at which their beers are poured. True, this would slow the already incredibly slow lines down even more while these hired reps field questions, and, true, this would probably double the cost of beer to the consumer, but I am willing to put up with these things, and I am sure I speak for everyone else in this regard.

IMO, the ideal is that volunteers pour the beer but the representatives are there to answer questions. This keeps the lines moving and gives attendees ample chance to talk to the brewery without making everybody behind them wait.

Sometimes breweries arent even aware their beer is being poured at beer fests. Not much they can do about that. Its unrealistic to expect someone from the brewery to be there every time their beer is being poured.

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I agree it is tough. But at least have someone there with a little knowledge?

I don't necessarily think that the actual brewer has to be at the fest (although I'm always impressed when they take to time to be there) but I do think it's the brewery's responsibility to educate the people who are pouring the beer. When you go to a wine tasting, the pourers can speak reasonably well on what you are tasting. Why shouldn't the beer industry follow suit? Beer drinkers are just as curious as wine drinkers.

Half the reason I go to beer fests is so I can ask questions. If I wanted to just drink beer, I could go to a bar.

Not to hijack this thread but I was reading about the VIP ticket for this event and it seems like it is very "padded" by schwag...They do say if you buy the ticket you can try limited beer in the "mustache tent" etc but I was wondering if anyone has experienced this in the past because it sounds like it probably is not worth the cost (double the cost of admission).

Not to hijack this thread but I was reading about the VIP ticket for this event and it seems like it is very "padded" by schwag...They do say if you buy the ticket you can try limited beer in the "mustache tent" etc but I was wondering if anyone has experienced this in the past because it sounds like it probably is not worth the cost (double the cost of admission).